This is a new online contest and webshow parodying American Idol. We will have three permanent judges, and one guest judge per episode. Episodes will air every other week, starting in mid-October. The first 2 episodes will be audition rounds screening for the top 15 contestants. There are 6 rounds, an audition round and 5 finalist rounds.

For the audition round, participants will each create a 45-90 second AMV using one of the provided songs. Depending on the number of submissions, not all participants may end up getting judged/interviewed via Voice Chat for episode screen time (all videos will judged, but we cannot guarantee live judging). Like American Idol, the best and the most entertaining contestants will be prioritized for screen time.

There will be a two week break (plus or minus a couple of days) between the audition round deadline (September 30th) and the beginning of the next round. After that there will be a one week break between each round. Editing time for the finalist rounds (everything but the audition round) will be between 5 and 7 days.

The AMVs for finalist rounds will be based on pre-determined themes. Three finalists will be eliminated each round. Auditions round will be judged by staff (including judges, but excluding hosts) based on a fixed set of scoring criteria. The first 4 rounds will be judged by the judging staff (i.e. the permanent judges and the guest judge of the round).

The winner of the final round will be determined via web-site poll. An 8th episode will announce the winner, and provide a retrospective.

Judging and hosting will be recorded through Skype Voice Chat , and the VC content will be edited to avatars that each have varying reactions/expressions but are not fully animated. Beta-coaching will be provided for finalists. Willingness to play-up drama is HIGHLY encouraged of participants (we will include a disclaimer at the end explaining to the audience that participants were asked to ham up their reactions), but not required.

The Rules For AMV Idol ContestJuly 24, 20121. Participants must have turned 13 on or before Sept 15, 2012.2. Application form must be filled out accurately and without omissions.3. Participants may not have won awards with 3 or more unique videos in convention-based AMV contests. (In other words if you have one video that has won 5 awards, but no other winning videos, you are still eligible. It is a matter of how many award-winning videos you have made.)4. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any content stolen from another editor’s AMV is grounds for an immediate DQ.5. Newness Rule: All AMVs submitted to the competition rounds are to be original for this contest (e.g. if there is a trailer round you MUST submit an entirely new trailer– NOT a trailer you have made before, NOT a remake of a trailer you have made before).6. Participants are expected to legally acquire the source material for their AMVs. Watermarks are grounds for DQ.7. No subtitles from the original source material are permissible.8. This is an Anime Music Video contest, the content guidelines are as follows: • Video must consist of at least 50% anime. Anime is defined as animation (traditional and 3-d) professionally produced by a Japanese company. Japanese videos games are included. • Video may consist of no more that 40% editor created content. This is content that you have created from scratch such as your own animation, text-work, CGs or still frames. • Video may consist of no more than 10% professional non-anime sources. This includes anything live action and anything produced outside of Japan. • Non-professional sources created by someone other than yourself will only be allowed if they have been approved by AMV Idol staff in advance.9. Hateful content is grounds for DQ. Hateful content includes racist, misogynistic and homophobic messages. If you have questions about the permissibility of a song or a concept please contact staff.10. PG-13 Guidelines apply. This means no extreme graphic violence or sexual nudity.11. Participants are expected to censor profanities from their AMVs. Staff will censor swearing in voice chats. “Shit” and “damn” will not be considered profanities, and need not be censored.12. Participants may flame judges in voice chats but they may not use threats. Participants may NOT flame each other.13. Participants must be available for voice chats on Skype for judging and interviews. (More on available times later.)14. By entering this contest you grant consent to AMV Idol to reproduce your content in episodes and promotional material.15. Participants are HIGHLY encouraged to play up the drama of their reactions in voice chats.16. Staff reserves the right to deny contest entry to participants for any reason, under our own discretion.17. If staff chooses to disclose the theme for a round, or whether you will be moving on to the next round before the information has aired in an episode, you MUST keep that information a secret. If it is leaked it is grounds for a disqualification.